Karen Beechey, head of PALS and complaints at SWBH said: “We welcome the report and note the number of initial inquiries made to them about our trust has fallen in the last financial year”.
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It completed 1,652 investigations about acute trusts in 2014-15, compared to 852 in 2013-14.
The PHSO is the final resort for patients whose complaints have not been resolved by NHS chiefs. Overall seven complaints were fully or partly upheld, up from two the previous year.
The trust, which runs the QMC and City Hospital, ranked as the 77 best out of 158 across the country, with 5.78 enquiries accepted per 100,000 clinical incidents.
“As a Trust we welcome feedback, whether good or bad, as this enables us to identify areas where improvements in our services can be made and to ensure that learning is shared”.
The report – titled Complaints about acute trusts 2014-15 – revealed that the number of enquiries the ombudsman received and investigated about acute trusts increased in 2014-15.
Poor communication, including quality and accuracy of information, was a factor in 35% of all complaints – though this was lower than the 42% in 2013-14.
But again, true to British nature, staff attitudes accounted for one fifth of complaints, and one tenth of complaints were because mistakes were not acknowledged.
A change to the way the ombudsman handles complaints to undertake more investigations explains this large rise.
Julie Mellor, of the ombudsman, said: “We know that there are many factors that influence the number of complaints hospitals receive, such as organisational size, demographics and whether they actively encourage feedback from patients”.
The ombudsman received 22 inquiries regarding care received at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, down from 25 in 2013/14.
Errors in diagnosis, poor treatment and lacklustre communication by hospital trusts have been blamed for rising numbers of complaints reaching a health service watchdog.
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust saw a slight increase in enquiries from 67 to 73, but nine complaints were upheld compared to just one the year previous amid increasing demand.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust saw a steep rise in complaints from 33 to 52, with the number of complaints upheld doubling to six over the previous year .
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A spokeswoman for Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said: “Listening to, valuing and responding to complaints is an important part of our commitment to continuously improving our services for patients”.
